The team without Kobe Bryant (so far) and Steve Nash (more or less) had the same record through 14 games as last season's alleged dream team.

The franchise that scoffs at anything not in June can smile at something in November. "Amazing, right?" Steve Blake said.

Something close to that.

There wasn't much star power on the court for any big-name musicians who jumped into Staples Center after attending the American Music Awards across the street.

But there was Pau Gasol (20 points, 10 rebounds) and a lot of hustling players, a combination that made the lead singer from LMFAO dance happily during a fourth-quarter timeout.

Xavier Henry had 21 points, one short of his career high, and Jordan Hill had 10 points and 13 rebounds, his fourth double-double in six games since becoming a starter.

The key to the Lakers' three-game winning streak? Not acting like schoolchildren.

"In kindergarten, you share your paste and crayons," Coach Mike D'Antoni said before turning to the present-day Lakers. "They share and they don't care. They don't go in and get a stat sheet, although they're all free agents. I think they've all got great values in the sense that they like their teammates, they like the Lakers and we're trying to win as a team."

Crayons would have been snapped in half and paste purposely spilled last season.

Egos existed uneasily, everybody seemed to get injured and a $100-million payroll disintegrated in a first-round playoff sweep by San Antonio.

Nobody's predicting a playoff spot for these Lakers. Too early. Too risky to do so.

But the Lakers finally found a concept that eluded them the first 10 games. Defense.

The Lakers have held their last four opponents under 100 points.

And people seem ... intrigued?

"It's cool that everyone's happy that we're 7-7, but we want to be better than that," said Blake, who had nine points and 12 assists Sunday.

If nothing else, they're better than Sacramento.

The Kings (4-9) came in with the West's second-worst record and didn't do much to disprove it.

DeMarcus Cousins missed a fastbreak dunk in the first quarter and Luc Mbah a Moute had a fastbreak dunk blocked by Wesley Johnson.

Then it was Ben McLemore's turn to miss a dunk. The first quarter wasn't even halfway over.

A Civil War-period coat worn by a nurse — a woman from a prominent Mathews County family who some believe was the only woman to be commissioned as a captain in the Confederate Army — is among the nominees for Virginia's Top 10 Endangered Artifacts program.

NAVAL STATION NORFOLK — The Navy on Saturday commissioned the USS John Warner, adding a 12th Virginia-class submarine to the fleet and celebrating the legacy of its namesake, the retired senator who was hailed as a statesman.